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India-Maldives Bilateral Relations

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Ministry of External Affairs (IOR Division) *** India‐Maldives Bilateral Relations India and Maldives share ethnic, linguistic, cultural, religious and commercial links steeped in antiquity. Except for a brief period between February 2012 to November 2018, relations have been close, cordial and multi‐dimensional. India was among the first to recognize Maldives after its independence in 1965 and to establish diplomatic relations with the country. 2. Maldives’ proximity to the west coast of India (it is barely 70 nautical miles away from Minicoy and 300 nautical miles away from India’s West coast), and its situation at the hub of commercial sea‐lanes running through Indian Ocean (particularly the 8° N and 1 ½° N channels) imbues it with significant strategic importance to India. 3. Maldives occupies a very special place in the ‘Neighborhood First Policy’ and the ‘SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) vision of the Government of India. 4. ‘India First’ has been a stated policy of the Government of Maldives and President Solih, ever since he assumed office in November 2018, has acted on this policy in right earnest. 5. India’s relationship with the Maldives is free of any politically contentious issues. The one‐time claim of Maldives to Minicoy Island was resolved by the Maritime Boundary Treaty of 1976 between the two countries, whereby Maldives has recognized Minicoy as an integral part of India. 6. India’s prompt assistance during the 1988 coup attempt, led to development of trust and long‐term and friendly bilateral relations with the Maldives. The immediate withdrawal of our troops when they were no longer required assuaged fears of any Indian dominance or territorial aspirations. 7. India was the first to assist Maldives during the 2004 Tsunami as well as the water crisis in Malé in December 2014. Under Operation NEER, India immediately rushed bottled drinking water to Malé utilising Air Force aircraft and Navy ships. These three incidents (in 1988, 2004 and 2014) had established the advantages of India’s proximity and capacity to come to Maldives’ rescue in distress vis‐à‐vis any other country and are widely acknowledged by the government and people of Maldives. Recent high level exchanges 8. Prime Minister Modi attended the inauguration ceremony of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on 17 November 2018 as the only HoS/HoG. He also held bilateral discussions with President Solih just after his swearing‐in ceremony, in which he conveyed India’s desire to work closely for the realization of Maldives’ developmental Page 1 of 9 Ministry of External Affairs (IOR Division) *** priorities, especially in areas of infrastructure, health care, connectivity and human resource development. 9. Foreign Minister of Maldives Abdulla Shahid paid an Official Visit to India from 24‐27 November 2018 (also his first overseas visit after assuming office). He was accompanied by H.E. Ibrahim Ameer, the Minister of Finance, H.E. Fayyaz Ismail, the Minister of Economic Development, H.E. Ahmed Khaleel, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and H.E. Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed, Foreign Secretary. 10. On his first overseas visit after assuming office, President Solih paid a State Visit to India from 17‐18 December 2018, during which India announced a financial assistance package of US$1.4 billion and also offered additional 1000 scholarships over the next 5 years. GoI provided US $ 50 million as budgetary support to GoM (part of the financial assistance package of US$1.4 billion) in two equal instalments in December 2018 and in January 2019. SBI subscribed to the GoM’s Treasury bills of US $ 50 million each in March, June and October 2019. The Current Swap Agreement for US $ 400 million was signed on 22 July 2019. Projects under the US $ 800 million have started rolling out. 11. Defence Minister Mariya Didi accompanied by Chief of Defence Force Major General Shamaal visited India in January 2019, during which the 2nd Defence Cooperation Dialogue was held. 12. Former EAM Late Smt Sushma Swaraj visited Maldives on 17‐18 March 2019, ahead of the Parliamentary elections in Maldives (6 April) and met President, Speaker and 10 Ministers. The Line of Credit Agreement for US $ 800 million (part of the financial assistance package of US $ 1.4 billion) was signed during the visit. The Agreement for Exemption of Visa Requirement for Holders of Diplomatic and Official Passports, MoU regarding Indian grant assistance for Implementation of High Impact Community Development Projects through Local Bodies and MoU on Cooperation in the field of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy were also signed during the visit. India gifted 2500 LED street lights and 2 lakh LED bulbs to Malé City Council. 13. President Solih paid an unofficial visit to Bengaluru on 21‐22 April 2019 to discuss broad contours of capacity building of cricket in the Maldives and training of the Maldivian cricket team as well as witnessing the IPL match between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). He also toured the Chinnaswamy Stadium and visited the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. 14. Islamic Affairs Minister Dr. Ahmed Zahir Ali visited Jamia Darussalam Oomerabad, Tamil Nadu on 25‐29 April 2019 to invite a religious scholar to visit Maldives to conduct workshops for religious scholars of Maldives. Page 2 of 9 Ministry of External Affairs (IOR Division) *** 15. Prime Minister Modi, on his first overseas visit after taking oath of the office for his second term, visited Maldives on a state visit on 8‐9 June 2019. He had one on one meeting with President Solih which was followed by delegation level talks. PM Modi also addressed a session of the newly constituted People’s Majlis. Vice President Faisal Naseem, Speaker of People’s Majlis Mohamed Nasheed, Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, former speaker Qasim Ibrahim and Minister of Home Affairs Imran Abdulla called on PM. Both sides signed (i) MoU on cooperation in the field of Hydrography, (ii) MoU on cooperation in the field of Health, (iii) MoU on establishment of Passenger cum Cargo service by sea, (iv) MoU for cooperation in Customs’ capacity building, (v) MoU between Maldives Civil Service Commission and NCGG, Mussourie and (vi) Technical Agreement on exchange of White Shipping Information between IN & MNDF. Both the leaders jointly inaugurated CTC facility of MNDF in Maafilafushi and Coastal Surveillance Radar System by remote links. 16. Chief of Defence Force (CDF) of MNDF Major General Abdulla Shamaal visited India from 03‐08 July 2019. This was his second visit to India within 7 months of taking over. During his visit he met Raksha Mantri, NSA, CAS, COAS and CNS and delivered speeches at IDSA and NDC. 17. An inter‐ministerial delegation led by Minister of Economic Development Fayyaz Ismail visited New Delhi from 22‐24 July 2019. Delegation included representatives of Ministry of Economic Development, Higher Education, Tourism and Business Centre Corporation. NSDC showed their facilities and gave presentation on their work on skill development in India. During the sidelines of this visit, CII also organized networking and business development sessions for the delegation from Ministry of Economic Development to raise Indian investment for newly formed 100% state body ‐ Maldives Fund Management Company (MFMC). Minister Ismail also met Foreign Secretary and attended a meeting with EXIM Bank to expedite project under the LoC. 18. EAM visited Maldives from 3‐4 September, 2019 to participate in 4th Indian Ocean Conference 2019. During the visit, EAM called on Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and Speaker Mohamed Nasheed. He also held bilateral talks with Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid. 19. On 04 December 2019, a Digital Video Conference (DVC) meeting was held between our Prime Minister and the President of Maldives during which theyjointly inaugurated a number of development projects in Maldives. This included installation of 2500 LED streetlights donated by India in Male, signing of 3 MoUs for implementation of High Impact Community Development projects for setting up neighbourhood fish plants in Addu, exchange of an MoU between National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the Bank of Maldives (BML) to launch the RuPay Card in Maldives and gifting a Page 3 of 9 Ministry of External Affairs (IOR Division) *** ‘Made in India’ Patrol Vessel named "KAAMIYAAB” to the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF). 20. The 6th Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) between India and Maldives chaired by EAM from the Indian side and Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid from the Maldives side was held at New Delhi on 13 December, 2019 during which the entire gamut of India‐ Maldives bilateral relations was reviewed by the two sides. In addition, MoU on cooperation between the Election Commissions of India and Maldives and MoU on cooperation between the Financial Intelligence Units of India were signed. Instrument of Ratification for the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters was also exchanged during the meeting. 21. A DVC meeting was held between EAM and Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid on 13 August 2020 to take stock of bilateral relations and make some landmark announcements in the context of COVID‐19 and the overall bilateral partnership. During the meeting, EAM announced India’s support for implementation of the Greater Male Connectivity Project in Male in the form of a new Line of Credit of US$400 million and grant of US$100 million, start of a direct cargo ferry service between India and Maldives, creation of an Air Travel Bubble between India and Maldives, renewal of quotas for supply of essential commodities to Maldives for the year 2020‐21 and extension of a financial assistance to Maldives to help them deal with the devastating impact of Covid‐ 19 on their economy.
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